Daily Life in the 70s
Chapter 233: Discovery (Make-up Update)

Chapter 233: Chapter 233: Discovery (Make-up Update)

The elderly woman didn’t just verbally stop them, she was quick to act too, charging over and bumping into the two who were caught off guard by the chicken eggs, "These eggs are mine, and nobody else is allowed to pick them up!"

"Old lady, do the eggs have your name on them?" the two who had been pushed aside retorted angrily, "Have you no sense of reason?"

It seemed that a rather sordid incident was about to erupt over a mere puddle of egg liquid.

Yang PeiMin quickly asked the old lady, "What’s the matter, ma’am?"

The elderly woman glanced at her, then at the sack by her feet, and handed over a bag of eggs she was carrying, "Just now my grandson bumped into you and smashed your eggs. Here, these are to compensate you."

Although the elderly woman’s face was crisscrossed with wrinkles, her hair was black. Despite wearing old patched clothing, her complexion was ruddy and spirited. Just by observing her swift movements, it was clear that this old lady was in good health. She extended the bag of eggs toward Yang PeiMin again, "Take them, young lady, my arm is getting sore from holding them."

Yang PeiMin accepted the eggs, not expecting to recover her losses. Without counting how many there were, she nodded and smiled in gratitude at the old lady’s integrity, "Ma’am, you’re very responsible."

The elderly woman waved her hand dismissively, pointing to the spill of eggs on the ground, "I’ve compensated you for these, the ones that got smashed are mine now, and you two stop picking them up as well."

The two individuals willing to pick up the eggs withdrew their hands willingly, "Alright, out of respect for your principle, ma’am, we’ll leave them for you."

Passersby who had been scolding the child earlier also chimed in with a few kind words.

Someone asked about her situation, "Ma’am, was that your grandson just now? What was he doing, running so fast?"

The elderly woman deftly used a spoon to scoop something into a porcelain tea caddy. She replied as she did so, "Oh, that’s my good grandson. I sent him to the Cooperative Society to exchange some things for me, but he was distracted by the tractor and bumped into someone."

"Exchange things? This is the first time I’ve heard of that, isn’t it buying things? Ma’am, you must have misspoken," voiced a puzzled bystander.

The elderly woman, now finished scooping, stood up and gave that person a disdainful look, "If you don’t understand, don’t speak nonsense. I, Quan, just make some food to sell at the Cooperative Society."

Now curious, someone else asked, "So, what do you sell?"

This gave the surrounding onlookers a new idea; with each family barely scraping by, if there really was a way to make money, that was something to consider seriously. They should see what kind of skills or crafts they had in their own homes that could be monetized.

People started to inquire about Quan’s business, inquiring one after the other.

Yang PeiMin, who was just fastening the sack to the rear seat of her bike, couldn’t help but perk up her ears out of curiosity.

Quan raised her eyelids slightly, seemingly aware of their thoughts, dusted off her clothes, and said nonchalantly, "I make autumn pear syrup. The stuff you buy for a cough at the Cooperative Society, that’s what I make. But don’t get any ideas about this, everyone, just go on your way."

Yang PeiMin was also surprised to hear this. She knew the recipe for autumn pear syrup; her great-grandfather in a previous life had been an Imperial Physician, and she heard it was originally an imperial recipe that later spread among the people. She wondered if the autumn pear syrup made by Quan was the same as the one she knew.

She turned her face around, and by then, Quan had already walked far away. That spry energy of hers was not something an ordinary old lady could match.

And in the crowd, there were those who recognized her; speaking to the others who were inquiring, they said, "Quan is an efficient woman. I heard that when she was young, she even served in the military. It’s just that she had bad luck; her husband died when she was young, and in her middle age, she lost her son and daughter-in-law as well, leaving only a grandson. The two of them rely on each other for survival."

"So that’s the case, with the elderly and the young one, it is indeed tough. No wonder she makes things to sell at the Cooperative Society, to subsidize her family income. It’s quite pitiful."

"Yes, it’s not easy at all. Fortunately, she still has this skill. I hear it’s her family’s secret recipe. The ingredients for this stuff are complex; ordinary people can’t make it. But don’t mention it, although the autumn pear syrup is expensive to buy, its effectiveness is really good. My mother had been coughing for several months and didn’t get better. Someone mentioned this, so I bit the bullet and bought a jar for her. She got better after a few days of eating it."

As this was said, the intense enthusiasm from before cooled a little, and some who didn’t know about the syrup began to inquire.

Yang PeiMin was also intrigued, and with a smile, she asked someone nearby to watch her bicycle while she went in to buy a jar of the autumn pear syrup.

Someone teased her, "Wow, Miss, you’re really earnest. You haven’t even finished talking here, and you’ve already decided to buy. Aren’t you afraid it might not suit you?"

Yang PeiMin laughed, "It just so happens that my man has a bit of a cough. If it’s not suitable for him, I can eat it myself. I heard it’s also good for soothing the throat, right? Let’s just consider it as drinking sweet syrup."

She went into the Cooperative Society and after asking the clerk, she found the autumn pear syrup indeed bottled in glass jars. She asked about the price, and it was 1 yuan per jar, about 250 grams each, not too expensive really. She paid the money, opened the lid of a bottle to smell, and it indeed had the right aroma and seemed to have the correct color as well.

When she came out, she discreetly inquired about Quan’s home address.

Some asked her what the matter was, and Yang PeiMin said, "I just bought a bottle for my own man to eat. If it works well, the elder in our house also coughs a bit during autumn and winter. But the old man’s health isn’t too good, and I don’t know if he can eat it. I am thinking of asking her when the time comes."

The person nodded, gave her a rough address, and told her to go over there and ask around later.

Yang PeiMin thanked them and was ready to head home.

Because of this glass bottle, it wasn’t easy to place on the back of the bicycle, so she used a net bag just like for carrying eggs and hung one on each side of the bicycle handles.

Riding with it was quite a challenge; the front of the bike wobbled incessantly.

But even with the wobbling, she still had to ride it home; there was no better option. If she waited until it got darker, it would have been even worse.

Yang PeiMin carefully slowed down and rode towards the military base.

She had never transported something so heavy on a bicycle before and took quite a while to get used to it. Right then, she really missed Xiao Xu’s jeep, or even having Shen Yiguang around would do, at least he would be the one riding, not her.

When she reached an uphill section, she was totally stumped—she had neglected to account for this.

She had no choice but to get off and push the bike.

As she pushed, she remembered a joke about an uncle—well, it wasn’t so much a joke, although at the time he told it with both frustration and humor. He said, "Back when I was young dating my girlfriend, we were poor, and all we had was a bicycle. I often took my girlfriend to the town to watch movies, and no matter how steep the hill, I would pedal hard, never letting my girlfriend get off and walk. But after getting married, even a slight slope would have me urging my wife to dismount and walk up herself..."